Detecting Media Bias
By
Jason Knowles
11/15/2012

When it come detecting media bias, media have the advantage of using their power to shape any topic to make it one way, when it may not be the case. In order to identify and recognize bias in media news, you need to have documentation showing the bias to have the evidence to back up your argument. There are some questions that you need to ask about the source. For example, who are the sources? Is there a lack of diversity? Are there any double standards? I would like to focus back on the shooting of Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch George Zimmerman in Florida. I remember when the incident happened. The news media made a assumption that George Zimmerman acted in self-defense, killing a 17 year old boy. It appeared to be the neighborhood has had several houses that were broken in due to illegal activities in that particular neighborhood that volunteer captain neighborhood watch man George Zimmerman lived in. Police told the media that they had no reason to suspect George Zimmerman for any foul play in the self-defense. The Martin family were outrage of the incident and because Zimmerman wasn’t arrested for the shooting. The Martin family and some civil rights leaders believes that it was a racist issue, because Zimmerman who is white and had been profiling because of Martin was black. Due to several interviews with friends and family member’s, they ruled out Zimmerman shooting as a racist crime. Further research shows that Zimmerman mother is Latin and from Peru, and his father is white. Between the Martin family and protestors have been heckling the police to arrest Zimmerman for the shooting. The police didn’t have probable cause to arrest Zimmerman; because Zimmerman made a statement to police that he acted in self-defense. So media had taking a story form a neighborhood man shooting in self-defense to a racist crime. Conclusions from the FBI believe that Zimmerman actions were not based off Martin’s skin color but rather based of his clothing the night of the shooting. Because of previous encounter burglary suspects in the community. News media also made it known to the public that there has been a history of police negligence and injustices made upon black residents in that community. Another factor of bias in this case is the judge. In the beginning of the case they remove Judge Kenneth Lester from the case, because the judge made a remark during the hearing that showed bias towards Mr. Zimmerman, which the defense team was worry this will cause fear and Zimmerman may not be treated in a fair court of law. The conclusion of this story is an example that sometimes detecting media bias can be easy to point out, because news media lacks the creditable sources that are sometimes hard to rely on. I believe the news media a lot of times jump to conclusion to soon, not having all of the information before it release to the public. We as viewers need to understand that we need to be open minded to what we hear and see, we also need to know if the sources we use are reliable.

References
1. Mailonline: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2114152/Trayvon-Martin-shot-dead-Police-say-theres-evidence-dispute-claim-neighbourhood-watch-captain-George-Zimmerman-acted-self-defence.html
2. NYDailyNews.com: http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-08-30/news/33504907_1_george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin-zimmerman-claims
3. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/12/george-zimmerman-case_n_1669153.html